Zamperini: The Victim Of The Olympian Race

“Where there’s still life, there’s still hope. What happens is up to God.” –Louie Zamperini Louie spoke these words as a young man who had just returned home when the Second World War ended. He said those words as a man who traded his success as an Olympic athlete to join the military. A man who was a part of a plane crash that left him floating in the sea for 47 days. A man made into a Japanese slave for two and a half years. A man who was beaten, starved, experimented on, and interrogated (Matt). Before these horrific events, the Italian boy raised in a small California town was a victim to racism and bullying. Though he was beaten and terrorized as a child, he found that running would change his life (Vogel). Though he was doubted …show more content…
If he would have said no to the proposal, all the captives would have been beaten, and he could not let anyone else be hurt. He was weak, hurt, and could not run like he once did. When he saw the looks on other captive’s faces, he knew he must win, even though he had no chance (Hillenbrand, “Louis Zamperini”). He also knew that if he won, he could die, or get others killed, but he would not let fear stop him (Hillenbrand, “Louis Zamperini”). Zamperini won. He beat the Japanese, and though he was beaten unconscious that day, Louie said in an interview that he had never regretted the choice (Hillenbrand, “Louis Zamperini”). He became a hero to those men that day. No one had defied and stood up to the Japanese in the way that Louis did, and he gave prisoners the hope they needed to fight for …show more content…
He wanted to help others, and that may have been one of the reasons that he signed up for the army (Manley). When he returned home, he struggled with PTSD and he was left with a hunger for revenge against the man that tortured him for years: the bird (Matt). In 1949, he became a born again believer and was able to let his anger go, and ultimately seek out his captors. He found the men that once beat, experiment on, and starved him, and he told them that he forgave them (Hillenbrand, “Louis Zamperini”). Louie had moved on and decided that he would use his story to encourage others. Only a hero filled with compassion can take torture from someone for two and a half years, and be able to genuinely forgive them for their transgressions against him. For many generations of individuals, Zamperini is their hero. When he came home, he began going to classes to learn to be a motivational speaker (Matt). Louie also wrote two books to reach out to those and encourage others by telling his story (Matt). He would share with others how running saved his life as a young boy, prepared him to endure his war saga, and gave him the ability to forgive his captors (Hillenbrand, “Louis Zamperini”). Louie was a true American hero who touched thousands of lives, and continues to reach lost people